Mika embraces pop music’s positives

Monday

Sep 28, 2009 at 6:00 AM

By John Carucci THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

It’s the diversity of his roots that Mika says propelled him to a global audience.

The Lebanese-born recording artist, who grew up in London and Paris, says his brand of pop music is universal. His first CD, “Life in Cartoon Motion,” produced the hit single “Grace Kelly” and the disco-y “Relax (Take It Easy).”

He covers a lot of pop ground in his new sophomore CD, “The Boy Who Knew Too Much,” and recently talked about the album and how his past shapes his music.

Q You can see lots of different styles and flavors in your new album.

A It’s set within the context of my adolescence. I wanted to do something that was almost a sequel to the first record. It is a comic-book version of my teenage years. And even the title, “The Boy Who Knew Too Much,” is the kind of the title you’d get on some — I don’t know — “Tintin” (a Belgian comic strip) adventure book or something.

Q You say the album is autobiographical. Please talk about a song and how it reflects on your life.

A “We Are Golden,” and that is about being 17. I wanted to write a song that made me feel like I was 16 or 17 again. On the way to the studio one day, I said to myself, “If I had the courage as a teenager to go back to university” — which is something I dread the thought of doing ... when I was a teenager I felt like a freak — I said to myself, “If I could turn myself into a beautiful freak, then my life would be all right.” And through music I try to do that.

Q Why do you embrace pop music when others shun it?

A I’m totally 100 percent unapologetic about the fact that I make pop music. I’m fascinated by it. I think I was always an outsider when I was growing up, and so the concept of a populist art form was something that was really attractive to me. I said, “Well, if no one is going to speak to me at school, then why don’t I write a song that they will all sing — then one day I will have some value.”

Q Do you feel the varied roots of your origin provide you with global appeal?

A I don’t come from a particular place, so my music is not tied down to a particular style, genre or scene. It gives me certain boundlessness, and I can adapt, and my music can find a home in many different countries.

Q You say you can deal with difficult subject matter within the framework of a pop song. Any examples?

A Even if it’s sad or bitter, it becomes universal. Paul McCartney called it empowerment. When he wrote “Blackbird,” he originally wrote it as “Black Woman Cries in Little Rock.” He took away all of that and he abstractified his lyrics a little bit more in order to make it more universal. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s no shame in that. That’s one of the cornerstones of pop music.

Q Besides McCartney, who else has influenced you?

A I was always in awe of artists who were able to create music, which wasn’t defined by a scene, or a style, or a genre or a particular fashion. So I always looked at stand-alone artists, like (David) Bowie and Prince and Michael Jackson.

Q What other art forms do you find influence your music?

A I’m massively influenced by illustration and by comic books. I think that comic books, and comics in general, are very much like pop songs. It’s an immediate populist art form that implies a lot of depth but has to be presented in the most simple and instantly immediate way.